Day: December 28, 2015

When our consignor approached us with the material that makes up this incredibly interesting lot, we felt we were absolutely up for the challenge. The consignment consisted of a number of items, all initially purchased from an estate whose name has been lost to history, and included a large black and white photograph of a member of what we believe to be the Winston-Salem Twins of the North Carolina State League. Also included was a side-written 1910-15 era Louisville Slugger bat, a well-worn pair of flannel baseball pants, a pair of heavy, red stirrup socks, and a pair of baseball spikes. We had the player’s picture, his bat, his pants, his socks and his shoes – but not his name.

The only hint is side-written on the bat: in grease pencil, appears the first name “Glenn” and a last name that appears to begin with the letter “S.” By heavily manipulating the bat image, there are a number of possible letters we can make out, but we cannot hazard a guess as to what it might be.

The photo, framed to approximately 18 1/2″ x 23″, is large, and in its original, vintage frame, from McElfish Artistic Framing of Frostburg, MD. While we could easily remove the backing from the frame to examine the back of the photo, doing so would likely ruin the frame and would certainly destroy the brittle backing, and so we are not likely to do it.

The bat is in very good condition, a gorgeous, early Louisville Slugger that has a crack on the reverse handle that has been repaired by a number of nails (quite long ago, as the nails are blended nicely into the bat’s patina), and there is quite a bit of grain separation, on both the front and back barrel. The flannel pants are Spalding pants, soiled with age but in excellent condition, as are the socks. The spikes are well worn but still intact, with some rust on the spikes themselves; our ball player had very small feet. The photo is lovely, in what appears to be its original frame. An outstanding collection, and an awesome mystery that we are still trying to solve!